Like Trump, López Obrador is a ‘love-him-or-loathe-him’ politician

Telling voters what they wanted to hear worked out well for Donald Trump. As Mexico shifts into election gear in 2017, another populist, anti-establishment figure will be hoping to follow in the US president-elect’s footsteps.

In the case of Amlo, as the maverick leftist is widely known, that message includes: promises to stamp out corruption, sweep out the ‘mafia of power’, give the elderly better pensions, cut fat cat government salaries, create jobs and roll out a huge infrastructure programme. He pledges to bring “real change” to Mexico.

Many voters have heard it all before. It is Mr López Obrador’s third try at the presidency, after losing by a whisker in 2006 to conservative Felipe Calderón in elections Amlo said were stolen. In 2012, Mr López Obrador was a close runner-up to President Enrique Peña Nieto.